Monday, March 31, 2014

A component of pushing the so-called Common Core State Standards (CCSS) involves panicking the public into believing that in the absence of CCSS, states will have no standards. This message is promoted in the Associated Press. On March 30, 2014, Melinda Deslatte offers the following If Not CCSS, Then What? message in her coverage of the Louisiana capitol: […]

@ THE CHALK FACE: Of Me I Sing …. Really?A response from the United Opt Out organizers: Morna McDermott, Tim Slekar, Ruth Rodriguez, Peggy Robertson, Ceresta Smith and Shaun Johnson) In the effort to stay “current” in reporting about the rising tide of the Opt Out movement (aka high stakes standardized testing refusal), journalists are eager to tell the story…but do they do their […]7 by education

For Teachers: An Important Paper on Rewards and Motivation

If you ask a teacher about the virtues of giving students rewards for behavior, effort, or accomplishment, there is a very good chance that he will tell you about the dangers of “extrinsic motivators”. Specifically, he me may tell you that giving students rewards for doing something will undermine their “intrinsic” motivation to continue doing that thing in the future, once the reward is no longer offered.

This is an element of folk psychology among educators, but it’s not entirely without justification. Any good (especially progressive) school of education will show its teachers-in-training any number of studies that demonstrate just that danger of rewards. Certainly, my credentialing program did.

As many of my classmates were quick to point out, however, many of those studies seem to have limitations that call their external validity into question. The studies tend to look only at certain kinds of rewards, for example, and tend to involve incentivizing tasks that students are already motivated to perform. Real-world classrooms, we noted, have the potential to include a wide variety of rewards for students and often involve tasks that students do not find very interesting, at least initially.

Still, I had never really managed to find an analysis that called the conventional

Whatever Will We Do If We Dump Common Core?

A component of pushing the so-called Common Core State Standards (CCSS) involves panicking the public into believing that in the absence of CCSS, states will have no standards.

This message is promoted in the Associated Press. On March 30, 2014, Melinda Deslatte offers the followingIf Not CCSS, Then What? message in her coverage of the Louisiana capitol:

Lawmakers can only take one approach to make critics… happy: Get Louisiana out of Common Core and its related testing.

But if legislators do that, what education standards do they put in place? How quickly could they develop them? How much would state-specific standards cost? And how disruptive would a change be in schools already transitioning to Common Core?[Emphasis added.]

Allow me to expose this nonsense for what it is.

First of all, no one advocating for CCSS was educated via CCSS. Conversely, every corporate reformer, every promoted of for-profit education, every test-driven, disruptive-education promoter was educated under some educational umbrella (whether called “standards” or not) other than the Core.

If self-declared “reformers” promote non-CCSS education as substandard, and all of these “reformers” lack a CCSS-based education, then they declare themselves as substandardly educated– in which case, why should anyone bother heeding any

The Network for Public Education asks Friends & Allies to join in demand for Congressional Hearings mail-in campaign

For the next part of our campaign, we’re going old school. During the month of April, we are asking our Friends & Allies to print out and mail a copy of this letter (Also see below.) to the offices of our friends at the Education Opportunity Network in Washington D.C.. On May 17 – the 60th anniversary of the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision – we will deliver our letters to members of Congress.

We are asking our Friends & Allies to take an extra step – print out a copy, slap on a stamp and drop it in a mail box. You might want to make copies and bring them to PTA meetings or pass them out to your friends and family. In this age of email and electronic media, mail in campaigns are not very common. This will make our presentation to Congress that much more effective.

Please share this campaign via social media and remember to send your letter before the end of April! More information about this latest part of our Call for Congressional hearings can be found on the NPE website HERE.(Diane Ravitch’s interview with Bill Moyers can also be viewed on this site.)

LETTER:

My name is _______________________ from _______________, _____ and I

stand with the Network for Public Education in calling on

Congress to hold hearings on the misuse and abuse of

standardized tests in the nation’s K-12 education system. If

you would like to speak to me about the way over-testing

has affected children and families in my community, call me

at ________________ or email me at __________________________. I would

4 Arguments That Scream "Save Public Education!"

A vibrant society makes great individuals, not the other way around.

Photo Credit: Suzanne Tucker / Shutterstock.com

The education privatizers are trying to convince us that parental 'choice' will solve all the problems in our schools. But the choice they have in mind is to dismantle a once-proud system of education that was nurtured and funded by a society of Americans willing to work together.

The wealthiest among us seem to have forgotten how important it is to cooperate, as most Americans did in the post-WW2 years, in order to forge new paths of productivity and inventiveness. A vibrant society makes great individuals, not the other way around. Education must be at the forefront of such cooperative thinking. Here are four good arguments for it.

1. Equal Opportunity is an American Mandate

In the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown vs. the Board of Education, Chief Justice Earl Warren said that education "is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms." Equally eminent future Justice Thurgood Marshall insisted on "the right of every American to an equal start in life."

But now, as The Economist points out, "Whereas most OECD countries spend more on the education of poor children than rich ones, in America the opposite is true." Poverty, of course, is of all colors, but it's disproportionately black. The Civil Rights Project at UCLA shows that "segregated schools are systematically linked to unequal educational opportunities," while theEconomic Policy Institute tells us that "African American students are more isolated than they were 40 years ago." New York City is the best example of that.

Charters and vouchers are the 'choice' of the free market. But the National Education Policy Center notes that "Charter schools...can shape their student enrollment in surprising ways," through practices that often exclude "students with special needs, those with low test scores, English learners, or students in poverty." Stanford's updated CREDO study found that fewer special education students and fewer English language learners are served in charters than in traditional public schools.

2. Charter Advocate Michelle Rhee Is Wrong

She said, "I think that we are doing the wrong thing in our society when we are congratulating mediocrity and participation." But among American children, whether 'mediocre' or 'exceptional,' the ability to participate in a cooperative manner should be congratulated. Children have to learn 4 Arguments That Scream "Save Public Education!" | Alternet:

James Baldwin said it best:

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

An Open Letter To The President And First Lady: An Open Letter To The President And First Ladyby EDWARDBERGER on MARCH 31, 2014Dear President Barack Obama, and First Lady Michelle Obama,I am writing due to extreme concerns about the American Public Education System being altered and changed on your watch. I am in my 53rd year as an educator. I entered my first classroom, as a teacher, in 1961 and

Alexander Russo Rejected by TFA - Will Promote Monsanto GMO Corn Instead!After early morning announcement that he had been accepted by TFA (see story below), Alexander Russo said that his application was rejected. After reviewing Russo's blogs, TFA stated that Mr. Russo would take a whole lot longer than 5 weeks to become a TFA er.Russo in a surprise move said that "TFA Sucks" and said

CURMUDGUCATION: More Marketing By PollWant to see how pollsters can keep finding widespread support for the Common Core? Today we've got a perfect example to look at. I am not a statistics or polling guy. I cannot, with any shred of authority, discuss n-curves and sampling error and any of those fancy statsy stuff. But I am a language guy, and I know when language is being used to game a system. A

The Myth Of A ‘Skills Gap’ And Our Phony ‘Education Crisis’ | FDL News Desk: The Myth Of A ‘Skills Gap’ And Our Phony ‘Education Crisis’By: DSWright Monday March 31, 2014 10:14 am Tweet3 Ask a Neoliberal why trickle down economics is not working in America and there are a few standard excuses offered. The excuses range from the fringier “inner city people are lazy” to the boilerplate “government

How the Increasing Reliance on Contingent Workers in Academia Will Result in Revolution | Adjunct Project: How the Increasing Reliance on Contingent Workers in Academia Will Result in Revolutionby Nathaniel C. Oliver“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar WildeAdjuncts are contractors. We are assigned classes on an as-needed basis, given a contract to teach tho

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: CA teachers visit parents and students at homeTeachers make house calls to improve performance Parent-teacher interaction at most schools centers around annual conferences where mom or dad come to the classroom and sit for an hour listening to an educator talk about how their child is perfor

Building Support for Teacher Leaders — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGBuilding Support for Teacher LeadersMarch 31, 2014 by Melanie OlmsteadTeachers are increasingly embracing leadership roles that allow them to use their skills and expertise outside of the classroom. Yet many schools are facing challenges in implementing distributed leadership models that empower teachers to become in

Parents, educators, students contemplate opt-out strategy for standardized tests | KDVR.com: Parents, educators, students contemplate opt-out strategy for standardized testsPosted on: 9:50 pm, March 29, 2014, by Kent ErdahlDENVER — A growing movement of parents and educators are standing up to standardized testing nationwide, and this weekend they meet in Denver to come up with a plan to change th

Wait What?: Will State Board of Education over look conflicts of interest to approve more charter schoolsWhile Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy’s budget fails to properly fund public schools in Connecticut it does provide for an increase in the number of privately run charter schools. This Wednesday, April 2, 2014, the Connecticut State Board of Education will meet to consider applications for new cha

White Anti-Racist Activism: A Long Path to Anti-Racist Scholarship and ActivismBy Mark NaisonThe subject of this essay is my evolution as an anti-racist activist, which led from cautious participation in the Northern Civil Rights movement, to involvement in the Columbia Strike and New York and National SDS as a theoretician on race and Black nationalism, to the founder of an anti-racist and anti-w

Diane Ravitch on Charters in New York City | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: Diane Ravitch on Charters in New York CityFiled under: Charter Schools,Ravitch — millerlf @ 10:45 am New York Schools: The Roar of the ChartersDiane Ravitch March 27, 2014In his speech at Riverside Church last Sunday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to end weeks of attacks on his schools policies by striki

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: A Teacher in L.A: WHO IS JOHN DEASY??by “Geronimo” from Diane Ravitch’s blog | http://bit.ly/Pa0Sko March 15, 2014 dianeravitch writes: A teacher in Los Angeles has a gripe about his superintendent, John Deasy: he says Deasy is an uninspiring technocrat, not an educator. He has no educational vision. The LAUSD board recently extended Deasy’s contract to

Public Schools for Sale? | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com: Public Schools for Sale?March 28, 2014READ THE TRANSCRIPTPublic education is becoming big business as bankers, hedge fund managers and private equity investors are entering what they consider to be an “emerging market.” As Rupert Murdoch put it after purchasing an education technology company, “When it comes to K through 12 educatio

Schools’ Bad Behavior Toward Parents Seeking Assessment Opt-Out | Truth in American Education: Schools’ Bad Behavior Toward Parents Seeking Assessment Opt-OutFiled in Common Core Assessments by Shane Vander Hart on March 31, 2014 • 0 CommentsIt seems that some schools are not handling parents seeking to opt their students out of assessments, in particular Common Core-aligned assessments, very well

Schools Matter: Education is a Human Right: Stop the Human Rights ViolationsA few relevant Articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the eco

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Teaches union fights new plan by Sacramento and other school districts to address low-performing schools - Education - The Sacramento BeeEducation HeadlinesMonday, March 31, 2014FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription pol

The legacy of César Chávez: The legacy of César Chávez When you enter “César Chávez” into a google search box, you get back a little over 92 million results. Despite growing up in the pre-computer era, I knew all about Chávez and the United Farm Workers (UFW) thanks to my activist, minister father. We practiced ‘meatless Wednesdays’, recycling (before it was common practice), and energy conservati

UT Gov. Herbert Reveals IN Gov. Pence’s Knowledge of Common Core Rebranding | Truth in American Education: UT Gov. Herbert Reveals IN Gov. Pence’s Knowledge of Common Core RebrandingFiled in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on March 31, 2014 • 0 Comments11Gov. Gary Herbert (R-UT)Governor Gary Herbert (R-UT) was gave his March press conference. He was asked a question by Robert Geh

This Week In Education: Events: So Long -- I'm Quitting Blogging & Joining TFA: 4-1-14Events: So Long -- I'm Quitting Blogging & Joining TFAIt is with *extremely* mixed emotions that I'm announcing that, as of midnight tonight I'm shutting down this site, the related Facebook and Twitter pages, and also my Chicago blog and Tumblr. [Some auto-scheduled tweets from over the weekend may appea

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: US DOE Struggles to Prove That VAM Works, But It Doesn’tAs is well known, the U. S. Department of Education zealously believes–like Michelle Rhee–that low test scores are caused by “bad” teachers. The way to find these ineffective teachers, the theory goes, is to see whose students get higher scores and whose don’t. That’s known as

Ed Notes Online: Chapter Leader Takes on Murry Bergtraum Closer/Hatchet Princpal Lottie AlmonteThe Bloodletting - The aftermath of 2012-2013After the first year, over 51 staff members left, mostly voluntary in the form of transfers, hastened retirements and voluntary excess. This out of about 170 total staff in the building. No complaints from the Department of Education, not even UFT headquarters

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: My Latest NY Times Post For ELLs Is About Nouns, Soccer In China & More!Learn about nouns, soccer (football) in China, and using interviews as an engaging sequencing activity for learning English — all in my latest post in the New York Times. A student interactive and teaching activities are included. You can find all m

Did the Press Do Its Due Diligence on the Common Core? :: Frederick M. Hess: Did the Press Do Its Due Diligence on the Common Core?by Frederick M. Hess • Mar 31, 2014 at 8:35 amCross-posted from Education WeekI think the Common Core debate has been so heated, in large part, because it seemed to many that it emerged from nowhere, as a fait accompli. The annual Gallup/PDK poll reported in August 2

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Standardized testing? “We’re out.”1 by Fred Klonsky / 1h hide // saveWeingarten Rights. Our Miss Brooks never got in trouble with the principal or central office administrators.. For all the many years that I was Grievance Chair, union local Vice President and President I always made a big thing abo

empathyeducates – 5 Reasons America is Unjustly Afraid of Young Black Men: 5 Reasons America is Unjustly Afraid of Young Black MenBy Leo Davis | Originally Published at Atlanta Black Star. March 24, 2014Misreported Statistics Used to Reinforce Black Men as ViolentOne statistic commonly misused by a misleading media is: 49% of murder victims are black men. 93% of those are killed by other blacks. H

Perdido Street School: Charter School Sector Set To Thrive In NYCThe NY Times reports the budget deal giving charter schools the right of unlimited expansion in NYC threatens de Blasio's education goals - and of course, that was always the point:Under the deal, the city would be required to find space in public buildings for charter schools, which operate independently of the school district but r

The Answer Sheet: ‘If only American teachers were smarter…’Teachers. In this school reform era, they have been targeted as “the” problem for failing schools. Are they? In this post, Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the College of the Holy Cross, looks at the teaching corps and what is true about America’s teachers, what isn’t, and where to go next. Schneider is the author […]

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Don Gaetz Caves on Same Accountability Standards for Florida Voucher SchoolsOnce thought to have drawn a line in the sand on holding voucher schools to the same accountability standards and are public schools, Sen. Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) has apparently changed his mind.

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: United Arab Emirates: there's an app for thatThe United Arab Emirates has launched the first-ever smart government app store. In conjunction with Google and Apple, local and federal governments have created over 100 apps to serve around 700 people at a time in one location. The plan is for the UAE to transition to smart government by the middle of 2015, only a little ov

Moving Forward without a Backward Glance: MOOCs and Technological Innovations | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Moving Forward without a Backward Glance: MOOCs and Technological InnovationsIn a recent commentary on the rock star Sting’s dipping back into his childhood to revitalize his song writing, David Brooks said: “how important it is to ground future vision in historical

Ravitch on Charters: NY Review of Books and Bill Moyers Interview | janresseger: Ravitch on Charters: NY Review of Books and Bill Moyers InterviewPosted on March 31, 2014 by janressegerAccording to the NY Times, a deal has been cut in a New York state budget bill that will stop New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio from charging rent to charter schools and also prevent his haulting the practice of co

Shanker Blog » When Growth Isn't Really Growth, Part Two: When Growth Isn’t Really Growth, Part TwoPosted by Matthew Di Carlo on March 31, 2014Last year, we published a post that included a very simple graphical illustration of what changes in cross-sectional proficiency rates or scores actually tell us about schools’ test-based effectiveness (basically nothing).In reality, year-to-year changes in

Education Reform: Building Houses of Sand in Swamps | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Crazy Crawfish's BlogZesty Louisiana Education PoliticsEducation Reform: Building Houses of Sand in SwampsPosted on March 31, 20141One of first sermons I heard when I was younger that really “sunk in”, came from the book of Matthew. The Sermon was based on Matthew 7:26 from a section known as the House on the Rock.26“Ever

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública: Refuse the TEST!! Parents Opting Out Is RISING!Parents all across the US are getting it: Corporate sponsored hi stakes testing if profitable for them while it is killing the education soul of their children and replacing it with fear and loathing.Now is the time for all concerned Parents, Students and Educators to unite and join th

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLESSAY JAY!...Travis concedes but the coalition that came close to electing her, meets and agrees to continue working together for honest and accountable elected leadership.Jay Travis"I could not be more proud of our campaign. I am writing to let you know that I am officially conceding... I look forward to continuing to stand sho

by mike simpson / 9h

YESTERDAY

Tennessees’ TVAAS (now EVAAS) Developer W. L. Sanders on his VAM |: Tennessees’ TVAAS (now EVAAS) Developer W. L. Sanders on his VAM The model I know best, as I have been researching this one for now almost a decade, is the TVAAS (which is now more popularly known as the EVAAS) which, as mentioned numerous times on this blog, has its strong roots in Tennessee. It is in Tennessee that William L. Sa

State Protections for Charter Schools Threaten de Blasio’s Education Goals - NYTimes.com: State Protections for Charter Schools Threaten de Blasio’s Education GoalsMayor Bill de Blasio has mapped out an ambitious agenda for education in New York City. He wants to reinvigorate schools on the verge of shuttering, open 100 schools with health clinics and therapists at their core, and train more stude

Anniston Star - Speak Out Education under attack: Speak Out: Education under attackMar 28, 2014 | 1760 views | | 25 | | As a retired educator with 35 years of teaching experience, I see the time has come to save our children’s education from an attack by the Alabama Republican House and Senate. These new-style Republicans are not our parents’ (or our) Republican representatives and senators. T

Marie Corfield: #NJEdMarch27 Postscript: #NJEdMarch27 PostscriptI've been struggling to put words together to reflect on last Thursday's education march on Trenton. As a fledgling blogger, I sometimes find it easier to write about an event as a witness, but last week I was a participant. I was honored to be on a speakers list that included so many passionate voices for public education. And even m

The Deceptive Push to “Implement” Common Core | deutsch29: The Deceptive Push to “Implement” Common CoreMarch 30, 2014I just returned home from speaking at the iRefuse Rally on March 29, 2014, in Port Jefferson Station, New York. My trip was an adventure in many ways, not the least of which was in my managing to get to New York.In short, my flight to NYC was canceled; I was able to fly to Baltimor

James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPempathyeducates – Special Report: Taxpayers Fund Creationism in the Classroomempathyeducates – Special Report: Taxpayers Fund Creationism in the Classroom: Special Report: Taxpayers Fund Creationism in the Classroom Image; A striking shift in pub